Artifact Casts

ARTIFACT CASTS

Lithic Casting Lab

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ALL AVAILABLE CASTS

The casts offered by Lithic Casting Lab are the highest quality available anywhere. They are cast in epoxy resin from molds taken directly from the original artifacts. The edge detail and coloration are guaranteed to be as good or better than any other casts being sold. The technology to produce them has been developed from over 25 years of experience at Lithic Casting Lab.
A new cast will be posted each month to add to the number already available. Although some my be replaced with new examples.

MAY 2008 CAST
LATE STAGE CUMBERLAND PREFORM

LATE-STAGE PREFORM
CUMBERLAND POINT
PALEO-INDIAN
DICKSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY
PRIVATE COLLECTION
COPYRIGHT APRIL 30, 2008 PETER A. BOSTROM

CAST ILLUSTRATED
CAST #P-75
LATE-STAGE PREFORM
CUMBERLAND POINT
PALEO-INDIAN
DICKSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY
PRIVATE COLLECTION

This is one of the best examples of a Cumberland point preform found to date. It’s large size, the fact that it’s a late stage preform and that it broke during fluting makes it a valuable study piece. This point was found in two pieces in Dickson County, Kentucky. It was broken during the first attempt to remove a flute flake. The channel flake was struck or pressured off a prepared platform located at the center of the base. The fluted side was also skillfully prepared, prior to fluting, with uniform pressure flaking. The opposite side has not yet received its final reduction series of pressure flaking that would have removed most of the still visible percussion flaking.
Another point of interest is the break pattern caused from fluting. This Cumberland point preform did not break right at the hinge point of the flute but an inch farther down. The study of these types of break patterns in Cumberland points may eventually determine how these long flutes were removed from their platforms, either by percussion or pressure. This Cumberland point preform is made of Fort Payne chert and measures 6 1/4 inches (15.8 cm) long, 1 3/8 inches (3.5 cm) wide and 7/16 inch (11 mm) thick.

ORIGINAL ARTIFACT ILLUSTRATED
CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGER IMAGE
LATE-STAGE PREFORM
CUMBERLAND POINT
PALEO-INDIAN
DICKSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY
PRIVATE COLLECTION

This picture shows both sides and an edge view of the original artifact. The fluted side on the left shows very nicely done pressure flaking and in contrast, the opposite side has an earlier stage percussion flaked pattern. The edge view shows the large channel flake scar, which measures 2 7/8 inches long.

APRIL 2008 CAST
DIHEDRAL BURIN

DIHEDRAL BURIN
TERMO-PIALAT SITE
COUZE VALLEY, FRANCE
UPPER PALEOLITHIC
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY
COPYRIGHT MARCH 31, 2008 PETER A. BOSTROM

CAST ILLUSTRATED
CAST #AU-3
DIHEDRAL BURIN ON BLADE
TERMO-PIALAT SITE
COUZE VALLEY, FRANCE

   This Dihedral Burin was found on the Termo-Pialat site in southern France. This Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian site is located in the Couze Valley in the Dordogne region less than a mile west of the now famous Combe-Capelle site.
    The term dihedral, as it applies to a burin, is a descriptive word that interprets the shape of the working end. The chisel edge is formed by removing two flakes that form two intersecting planes. Burins were developed during the Upper Paleolithic period for shaping implements made of antler, bone and ivory.
   This burin was made from a blade that was struck from a prepared core. Three blade removal scars show the uniformity in which the blades were being struck from the core.
   This blade tool shows evidence of heavy use on the bit. It was made from a very good quality white chert and it measures 2 7/16 inches (6.2 cm) long and 11/16 inches (2.3 cm) wide.

ORIGINAL ARTIFACT ILLUSTRATED
DIHEDRAL BURIN ON BLADE
TERMO-PIALAT SITE
COUZE VALLEY, FRANCE

   The Aurignacian is known for its heavy use of a variety of different stone tools made from blades driven off prepared cores. This is an excellent example of a multi-purpose tool from the Aurignacian stone tool complex. This combination Burin-Scraper shows no signs of heavy use wear. It may have been reduced to its present size from previous resharpenings. This combination multi-purpose tool could have been used for scraping, cutting or engraving.
   Burins were commonly used during Upper Paleolithic times. They are fairly rare in the archaeological record in North America. The chisel-like working edge is created by driving a flake off the thickness of an edge. These tools were used for engraving materials like bone, antler, ivory or wood.
   The Aurignacian stone tool complex extends over much of Europe. It dates to the early part of the Upper Paleolithic between 34,000 and 29,000 years ago. Aurignacian sites are known to have existed during a period of very cold and dry climate. The Aurignacian type-site is Aurignac, which is located in southern France in the region of Haute Garonne.

MARCH 2008 CAST
HOLLAND POINT

HOLLAND POINT
EARLY ARCHAIC
COOPER COUNTY, MISSOURI
PRIVATE COLLECTION
COPYRIGHT FEBRUARY 29, 2008 PETER A. BOSTROM

CAST ILLUSTRATED

CAST #A-12
HOLLAND POINT
EARLY ARCHAIC
COOPER COUNTY, MISSOURI
PRIVATE COLLECTION

This Holland point was found in a cultivated field in 1979 by Len Weidner. This point is a particularly well made example. All of its final stage finishing flakes were skillfully done with "classic Dalton style" pressure flaking. Holland points are stemmed with very slight shoulders. The base of this point is concave and thinned with several pressure flakes. It also has very slight "ears" at the basal corners.
Holland points date to the Early Archaic period, approximately 10,000 years ago. They were named after Warren Holland for a cache of thirteen points he found in Henry County, Iowa. Holland points have been found in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. This point type actually represent one of the many different forms of Dalton points. This Holland point measures 4 1/2 inches (11.5 cm) long.

FEBRUARY 2008 CAST
CUMBERLAND POINT

CUMBERLAND POINT
PALEO-INDIAN
GLASGOW, KENTUCKY
PRIVATE COLLECTION
COPYRIGHT JANUARY 31, 2008 PETER A. BOSTROM

CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE TRIPLE IMAGE
ORIGINAL ARTIFACT ILLUSTRATED
CAST #P-74

CUMBERLAND POINT
PALEO-INDIAN
GLASGOW, KENTUCKY

This Cumberland point is referred to as the “Grievo Cumberland.” It was recently rediscovered in an old safe in New Jersey that hadn’t been opened for sixty years. This is an excellent example of a very rare eastern fluted point type. Its most interesting feature is the sharpened edges near the point that were also serrated, an indication that it may also have been used as a knife. It’s made of either St. Genevieve or Fort Payne chert and measures 4 ¾ inches (12 cm) long, 1 3/16 inches (3 cm) wide and 5/16 inch (8.4 mm) thick.
Cumberland points are diagnostic of the Paleo-Indian period. The only carbon date for a Cumberland point comes from the Dutchess Quarry Cave #1 site in New York. A carbon date taken from a caribou bone produced a date of 10,580 B.C. + 370. Cumberland points have been described as being diagnostic of the Parkhill complex in the Great Lakes area. The Parkhill complex is known for Barnes points, which have a different shape than Cumberland points. Cumberland points are found in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and other states in the southeast.

JANUARY 2008 CAST
EASTERN "THIN" LONG FLUTED POINT

EASTERN STYLE “THIN”
LONG FLUTED POINT
PALEO-INDIAN
OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK
HOWARD ARNDT COLLECTION
COPYRIGHT DECEMBER 31, 2007 PETER A. BOSTROM

CAST ILLUSTRATED
CAST #P-73
EASTERN STYLE “THIN”
LONG FLUTED POINT
PALEO-INDIAN
OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK
HOWARD ARNDT COLLECTION

This fluted point was found several years ago in Otsego County, New York by Howard Arndt. It’s an excellent example of an eastern “thin” style of the “long fluted” points that have been reported in the region. They are sometimes referred to as Barnes-Cumberland points or as Richard Gramly has described this example: “In the typological sequences of eastern North America fluted points, this specimen stands midway between Barnes-Cumberland type and Crowfield type” (Richard M. Gramly, PhD.). Similar points have been described by Perino as Barnes “Fluted” and he's also referred to them as “the Illinois Folsom in west-central Illinois and the Sedgewick point in northeastern Arkansas.” (Perino, 1991) This point is fluted to the point on one side with multiple fluting. It’s made of opaque gray Esopus shale and measures 2 13/16 inches (7.1 cm) long and 3/16 inch (4.5 mm) thick.

Cast of an eastern style "long fluted" point from NY.

CAST ILLUSTRATED
EASTERN STYLE “THIN”
LONG FLUTED POINT
PALEO-INDIAN
OTSEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK
HOWARD ARNDT COLLECTION

This picture show the opposite side of the point which is fluted to the point with multiple fluting.

DECEMBER 2007 CAST
HOHOKAM POINT

HOHOKAM POINT
SEDENTARY PERIOD
SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
PRIVATE COLLECTION
COPYRIGHT NOVEMBER 30, 2007 PETER A. BOSTROM

CAST ILLUSTRATED
CAST #H0-2
HOHOKAM POINT
SEDENTARY PERIOD
SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA
PRIVATE COLLECTION

    This Hohokam point was found several years ago in the Phoenix basin area in south central Arizona. It dates to the Sedentary period sometime between A.D. 900 to A.D. 1100.
    There are several different styles of Hohokam points. The larger finer examples have a very unique and distinctive shape. They are generally triangular in outline and many are serrated. Some have side-notches and other examples, like this one, do not have notches. This example is serrated from the base to just below mid-length. It also has the classic Hohokam style long narrow “spiky” point.
    Hohokam points are found in central and southern Arizona. Some of the side-notched and corner-notched styles are very similar to points found at the Cahokia and Spiro sites. The word Hohokam means “ancient ones.”
    This Hohokam point is made of semi-translucent Obsidian. It measures 1 11/16 inches (4.3 cm) long.
THE HOHOKAM CULTURE

The Hohokam people were prehistoric farmers who lived on approximately 45,000 square miles of land in the Sonoran Desert of south central Arizona. The name Hohokam is usually reserved for the pottery-making people who lived between A.D. 200 and 1450. Many of their houses were built together in small clusters or on isolated locations. They also built large settlements that were well organized around plazas, ball courts and platform mounds. The Hohokam people also built the largest prehistoric canal system in North America. Mexico had a strong influence among the Hohokam in both trade and culture. Rubber from the Mexican lowlands was used to make balls that were used on their elaborate ball courts. The game may have been similar to the one played in 14th century Mexico. It was similar, in some ways, to soccer and basketball but with no hands allowed.